Long-nosed Potoroo

• It has the longest gestation known in any marsupial, at 38 days.
• Its pointed snout makes it look like a bandicoot, but it hops like a kangaroo.
• It feeds mainly on underground fungi.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (marsupial mammal)

Habitat & environment

Damp forest, coastal scrub and densely vegetated heath of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania

Birth weight

Exact weight at birth not found as a precise figure

Size at birth

Extremely undeveloped at birth, finishing its development in the pouch over some 100-125 days (its 38-day gestation is the longest of any marsupial)

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

38 days

Litter / clutch size

1 young at a time, and 2-3 a year

Sources consulted: Australian Government SPRAT database; A-Z Animals; Caversham Wildlife; Animalia.bio; Animal Diversity Web; Interesting Animals; Wikipedia (Long-nosed potoroo); The Animal Facts

Best time: All year round in south-eastern Australia and Tasmania, at night, in dense understorey; it gives itself away by the pits it digs in search of underground fungi.